EU summit to decide funding for energy projects

EU leaders have started a two-day summit meeting in Brussels which will have to find a compromise on how €5 billion of ‘unspent’ money will be shared out among the member states on energy and broadband-related projects.

The thorny issue was also discussed at various EU levels over the past weeks, but reservations expressed by a number of states were not resolved.

Malta, represented at the summit by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, is defending the €20 million allocation to it proposed by the Commission for an electricity interconnection project with Italy. Malta is also exploring the possibility of getting some extra funds jointly reserved in the original proposal for Malta and Cyprus. However discussions over this are still considered to be very ‘fluid’ at EU council level.

In its original proposal, the Commission had only granted €6 million to Malta but following strong objections by the government, the Commission revised its proposed allocation to €20 million.

Other member states also asked to get more money, with varying degrees of success, and some member states are still objecting.

During a preparatory meeting for the summit last Tuesday, EU Foreign Affairs Ministers failed to agree on a compromise.